The Amazon
by Abby Hamato Winchester
Summary: Imagine not being able to trust anyone, not being able to make friends, everyone ignoring you. That's what Emily Strange's life was like before she met Leo. He's not like other people. You see, he's a mutant turtle, but Emily's best friend. But something dark is following them, watching their every move. But will Emily be able to stop this force of darkness from hurting her?
1. Chapter 1

p style="background-color: #fefefe;"span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 24.4799995422363px;" /span/spanspan style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "So this is the Amazon," I said, staring into the forest ahead of me.I was staying in a small village not far into the forest. I was about to walk in, but I stopped as I felt a presence behind me, so I turned around and went face to face with one of the locals. He had dark brown hair, almost black, and tanned skin./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Don't tell me you're going into there by yourself, young lady," he said, with a thick Brazilian accent. "You should at least take someone with you."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "I'll be fine," I said, patting my katana. It sat in its sheath, strapped to my belt./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" He glanced down at it, and then looked back up at me. "You sure you'll be alright?" He asked, tilting his head a little./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I nodded. "I'll be fine," I said again, and turned around, walking into the large forest./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;"As I got deeper into the large forest, the trail seemed to disappear, so I got out my katana, the blade gleaming in the sunlight. I cut my way through the leaves, the remains of them falling to the ground./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Soon after, I found myself in a clearing, but instead of grass, it was dirt. I saw tire tracks that lead into more of the forest, so I bent down to touch them. But as I got up, I got a strange feeling, as if I were being watched./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I looked around. "Hello? Is anyone here?" I asked, looking around. I heard the rustle of a plant behind me, and I quickly turned around, pointing my katana in that direction. I stared at the plants, and I felt as if someone – or something – was staring straight back at me. I squinted my eyes, and listened to the silence, sensing for any movement./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I was still for about a minute, and all I could hear was the birds chirping and the buzzing of the bugs. I stood back up and sheathed my katana, and walked to the plants. I moved them apart, and bent down to see if there were any footprints, and there were. But not like any I've ever seen. They seemed to be large, and only have three toes. I touched them, and they were definitely fresh, and they were a little damp, yet cool compared to the humidity of the jungle./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I stood up and looked in the trees above, and saw a figure, but I could not see its body or head, as it was concealed in a cloak. I looked back down to the footprint, then back up at the tree. But the figure was no longer there. /spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 24.4799995422363px;"Must've/spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" been my imagination, I thought, and I turned around and walked to the /spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 24.4799995422363px;"center/spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" of the clearing./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I looked around, and felt completely lost. /spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 24.4799995422363px;"I've/spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" forgotten which way I came from, and which way I'm supposed to go. "Great," I muttered to myself. I searched the ground for the tire tracks. "Now I'll never get to the next village."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I heard a yelp, and then a thud behind me. On instinct, I turned around and saw the person with the cloak on the ground. It had green legs and green arms, with only three toes and three fingers. It also had a green head, a blue mask around it's face. It was groaning, and holding its left wrist. /span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Are you alright?" I asked it, and it opened its eyes immediately, and looked at me. It's eyes were a deep blue. It sat up and backed away slightly, still holding its wrist./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Are you okay?" I asked again, and it looked down to its wrist and then back up to me. It's wrist must be hurt. "Can I have a look at it?" I asked gesturing to its wrist./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" It shook its head. /span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I sighed, and took a step closer to it, but it backed away even more. I chewed on the inside of my lip and knelt to the ground. I took off my backpack and unstrapped my katana from my belt, putting it on the ground. It watched me do it, then looked back up at me. I held my hands out in front of me. "I'm a friend," I said, "I won't hurt you."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I shuffled closer to it, and it didn't back away. I sat next to it, on its left, and it eyed me carefully. I noticed two katana handles poking out from it's right shoulder./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I reached for its wrist, but it flinched away. I pressed my lips into a line. I have to be patient. "It's okay," I said, and went to grab its arm. It didn't flinch away this time, and my fingers curled around it's arm. It was really big, my fingers and thumb were at least an inch seat from each other./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I pulled it's arm gently onto my lap, and it didn't protest in any way. I touched it's wrist gently, and it moaned in pain. I looked up at it, and it was looking at it's hand. "It might be fractured or broken, I'll need to bandage it up. I have bandages in my bag," I said, and it nodded. /span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" It removed its hand off my lap, and I got up and walked over to my bag. I opened it and rummaged around until I found the bandages. I pulled them out and went back over to the person. I sat cross-legged next to him and gently grabbed his arm and pulled his hand onto my lap. I began to wrap the bandage around his wrist tightly, but not too tight. "My name's Emily, Emily Strange. Do you have a name?"/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" The sun had set so if was dark now. "Leonardo," it said. It sounds male. "Or Leo," he said again. I smiled and finished wrapping up his wrist. /span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I stood up and brushed myself off. He stood up as well. His cloak went up to his mid-thighs. I went and grabbed my backpack and my katana. I turned back to him./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Follow me," he said, and walked into the bush. I followed him./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Are there any other's like you?" I asked, and he turned around to face me./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "I have three brothers," he said while walking backwards./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "What about parents?"/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "My father is my Sensei, he's a rat. I don't have a mother. I never did," Leo said, and stopped walking. "Are you afraid of heights?"/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "No, why?" I asked. Although I still couldn't see his face, I could tell he was grinning./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Good," he said, and he scooped me up, bridal style, and jumped down a hole. I screamed briefly, as I hid into him, closing my eyes. I felt and heard a thud, and I opened my eyes. I looked up at Leo, and noticed that his hood was off. He had a green, bald head, and had a blue mask that surrounded his eyes, those blue eyes./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" He set me down, and I looked around. Vines were above us, coming from the humid forest above, but down here was cold and dimly lit, a small fire surrounded by a few logs. He walked over to the fire and sat on one of the logs./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Are you going to sit, or stand there in the cold?" He asked, gesturing to the log opposite him, with his good hand. I smiled sheepishly, and sat opposite him. I put my backpack on the ground behind the log./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "So," I started, staring into the fire. "How come you're a turtle?"/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "My Sensei was once human, Hamato Yoshi. He had a best friend, they were very close. But they fell in love with the same woman, Tang Shen," he began, and poked the fire with a stick./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "So they were Japanese?" I asked, looking up at him./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "How could you tell?"/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Their names."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Okay. So, Tang Shen fell for Hamato Yoshi, but his friend, Oroku Saki, or the Shredder, became jealous. Sensei had a child, Miwa, but both his daughter and wife died in a fire made by Saki. So Sensei came to New York to start a new life. He bought me and my brothers, but we were regular turtles back then. While he was walking home, he passed a strange man on the street, so Sensei decided to follow./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "He saw them exchange a canister of mutagen, but accidentally stepped on a rat's tail. It screeched, alerting the men, and a fight broke out. During the fight, the canister of mutagen fell and broke on the floor. Some of the mutagen splashed on Splinter-"/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Splinter?" I asked, cutting him off./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" He nodded. "My brothers and I call him Master Splinter. Since Splinter last touched a rat, he, well, mutated into a giant six foot rat. Due to the pain, he dropped the four of us into the pool of mutagen. Since Splinter was the last living thing we touched, we became humanoid. Splinter took us into the sewers of New York, and taught us ninjitsu, as he knew that humans /spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 24.4799995422363px;"wouldn't/spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" understand what we are," he finished, and looked up at me./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Interesting. Well, more interesting than my life story." I said, and looked at the fire, the warmth hitting my face./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "I'm listening," Leo said, leaning back a little, and putting his elbow on his knee./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I looked up at him. "No, it is really boring," I said./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Leo raised an eyebrow, if he had one, that is. "/spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 24.4799995422363px;"I've/spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" got time."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I sighed. "I was orphaned at a young age, and like I said before, the kids called me 'Emily Strange'. Since I didn't have a last name, 'Strange' became my last name. When I turned eighteen I left the orphanage, as no one adopted me. I studied to become a vet, but I never got the job, no matter where I looked. So after that I decided to travel the world. I've been to most of Europe, parts of Africa, Japan, Alaska, parts of Canada, parts of the USA, Australia, and most of South America. I've decided to stay in a village further on in the jungle, but then I got lost, then I ran into you, and now here I am." I looked up at Leo. "I'm surprised you haven't fallen asleep."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Leo laughed. "I find your story rather interesting. I've only been to New York and here," he said, and poked the fire again. "Have you been to New York?"/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Yeah, recently. I just came from there. Flew from there straight to here," I said, and I grabbed my backpack. I zipped it open and grabbed my jacket, and zipped the bag closed again, putting it back behind the log. I slipped the jacket on./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "You cold?" Leo asked, smirking./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Well I wasn't expecting to meet a mutant ninja turtle who would bring me down into a hidden area which is cold and damp," I said, and put my hands out towards the fire./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Well I wasn't expecting to bring a girl down into my hidden area," Leo said back./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "I'm not a girl. I'm twenty one, so I consider myself a woman," I said and crossed my arms./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Leo lifted his hands up in defeat. "So, what's happening in New York at the moment?"/span/spanbr style="line-height:  
1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Well, there's this vigilante guy that calls himself 'The Nightwatcher', and he basically does the police's job. Personally, I think it's stupid, bearing the world's problems on his shoulders, well, New York's problems," I said./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "I agree, although my brothers and I used to do that when we were fifteen," Leo said, the ghost of a smile on his face. "It's been seven years since we first went up to the surface."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I opened my mouth to ask what exactly they did, but a yawn came out instead./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Leo grinned. "You tired now?" He said./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Oh, shut it. I don't sleep well on planes and the moment I got off the plane I went straight into the jungle." I said./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Again, Leo put his hands up in defeat./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Well, I'm going to sleep, if you don't mind," I said. "I can leave if you want."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "No, no. You can stay as long as you want. I thought I was going to be lonely for a whole year," Leo said./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Only a year?"/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Yeah, Splinter sent me down here for training, to become a better leader for my brothers. Although I think I would be a better leader if they'd actually listen for once," he said, and he leaned forward a little./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "What kind of brothers would they be if they did listen?" I asked./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "True. But I am considering staying longer."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "I hope it's not just to get away from home. I haven't been in London for two years. I miss the place so much," I sighed./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "You're from London?" Leo asked./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "You couldn't tell by my accent?" I asked, and smirked./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Your accent isn't very strong," Leo said, and smirked back./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I yawned again. "Well, this time I'm really going to go to sleep," I said, and I lied down on the log. I only realized how tired I really was, as I let the sleep take over me./span/span/p  
p style="line-height: 24.4799995422363px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3999996185303px; text-align: center; background-color: #fefefe;"span style="line-height: 1.7em; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"*/span/p  
p style="background-color: #fefefe;"span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I felt a cool, damp air brushing my face, and I slowly opened my eyes. It was dark, but not as dark as last night. I sat up on the log, and the embers of the fire emitted faint warmth. I realized that I had a blanket on, although it wasn't actually a blanket, it was Leo's cloak. I put it over my legs./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I picked up my bag and rummaged through it, and I picked up my diary and pen. I haven't written in this thing for ages, been about a year. I wrote about Leo and all that I could remember about what he had told me the night before./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" A soft thud surprised me, and made me snap my diary shut. I reached for my katana, but realized it wasn't there. I turned around anyway and saw Leo. He had a belt that went around his waist and his pale plastron. I also noticed the two katanas appearing behind his right shoulder./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Morning," he said, as he walked over towards me. I noticed he had a dark shell, well, he is a turtle. I watched him as he sat on the log opposite me./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Where's my katana?" I asked, crossing my arms./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Leo pointed to my katana, which was leaning against a rock. I couldn't be bothered to get up, so I decided to get it later./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Why did you take it off me?" I asked./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Leo grabbed a stick and poked the embers. "You fell asleep with it on, and I didn't want you to stab yourself in your sleep. I'm not that good with patching up wounds; that's Donnie's job," he said./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Donnie?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Donatello, my second youngest brother. There's also Michelangelo, or Mikey, he's the youngest out of us. There's also Raphael, or Raph. He's the second oldest," Leo said./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "So you're the oldest of them?" I asked./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Leo nodded, but still stared at the embers./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "So, are you guys all a year apart or something?" I asked, grabbing my bag again./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "We're all the same age. Kinda like quadruplets, but not exactly," Leo said, and a fire erupted from the embers./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "So you're all twenty two?" I asked again./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "How did you know I was twenty two?" He asked./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Well, last night you said you used to do stuff at fifteen years old, and then you said that it was seven years ago. All I did was the math's," I said, and tapped my temple./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Leo nodded and smiled./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Just wondering, why did you tell me your life story and a lot about yourself?" I asked, getting up./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "I don't know, I just felt that I could trust you. You are one of the first people I've met that haven't screamed when they saw me," he said, and threw his stick into the fire. "And plus, you told me about yourself."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I chuckled. "But that must suck, having people think you're a monster. In my eyes, you're anything but," I said, and I walked over to my katana./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "My Sensei told me that you should always trust your instincts, unless they're wrong."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "That… actually makes sense," I said, and I sat down on the log again. I picked up his cloak and gave it to him./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Thanks," he said, and put it over his shoulders, but kept the hood off./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "For what, that I thought it made sense or the cloak?" I smiled, and he shrugged. "I should probably get going, I need to be at the place soon, otherwise they are not going to let me have the house."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Okay, do you need a lift?" he asked, standing up, so I stood up as well, grabbing by backpack./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I looked up at the vines. "Probably," I said, strapping my katana back to my belt./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Like last night, Leo picked me up bridal style./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Really? This again?" I asked./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Leo smiled. "No," he said, putting me down. "You're going to hold onto my shell."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I hesitantly moved behind me. "Are you sure?" I asked, and he nodded. I put my hands around his neck, and wrapped my legs around him./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Let's go," he said, and he jumped up the thick vines. We got up to the top, and the humidity of the forest struck me. Leo climbed a large tree, which I /spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 24.4799995422363px;"didn't/spanspan style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" see yesterday for some strange reason. "Which way are you heading?"/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I looked around, and it caught my eye. It was closer than I thought. "Down there," I said, and pointed towards it./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Okay," He said, and jumped down the tree, from branch to branch. He reached the ground with a thud. "So we're going to walk in that direction," Leo said, and pointed down a trail./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "You don't have to come if you don't want to. I don't want to be a burden," I said./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "No, no, it's fine. But I can't get too close to the village," He said and started down the trail./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "So, how did you find that hole?"/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "I stumbled upon it. Nearly fell in it."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I smiled. "You know, you're the closest person to me," I said, tilting my head to look at him./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "But we only just met," he said, looking back at me./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Exactly," I said, looking back at the trail./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Wow, do people avoid you or something?"/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "It seems like it," I said. "Wow, that is one big tree," I stared up into the thick branches. It was thicker than my height, well, I wasn't that tall./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "I can't get any closer, since I don't want to be seen," Leo said, leaning against the trunk of it./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Will I ever see you again?" I asked./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "How about this," Leo started, as he leaned against the tree. "I come past here every day, so if you wanna talk just come here."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I smiled and hugged him. "Thank you, Leo," I said./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" He hesitantly wrapped his arms around me as well, and I smiled. "N-no problem," He said./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I pulled away. "I'll see you around, 'ghost of the jungle'," I said, and I smirked./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "'Ghost of the jungle'?" He asked raising an eyebrow./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I pushed loose hair from my face behind my ear. "I might've heard of it on the way here."/span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" Leo smiled, and pulled his hood up. "Bye, Emily," he said, and began climbing the tree./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" "Bye, Leo," I said back, and watched him disappear in the thick branches./span/spanbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'comic sans ms';"span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 1.7em;" I continued on the trail, and a soft murmur of the bugs is all I could hear. But I knew that Leo was watching. I knew he watched me walk into the small village that was surrounded by the forest. I smiled, turning around and looking back into the jungle, and I swear that I saw a pair of blue eyes stare straight back at me./span/span/p 


	2. Chapter 2

"What do you mean 'I was too late?'" I argued. The receptionist looked down at some papers.  
"Well, it says here that you were supposed to be here by nine in the morning. Its noon now," she said, and she looked up at me. She had dark green eyes, pale skin and blonde hair scraped into a ponytail. She didn't have a Brazilian accent either.  
I sighed with frustration. "I was told that I had to claim it by noon!" I complained. The receptionist looked up at me.  
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do," she said, and put the papers into a drawer.  
I turned and left, storming out of the small building. Most of the village was shadowed by the jungle. I strolled into the forest and looked over my shoulder. A young boy watched me, tilting his head a little. I sighed and turned back to the forest, walking in.  
I decided to go to the large tree, and I followed the track. The large tree was easy to spot, its thick trunk blocking out the sunlight. I sat down, with my back against the cold bark of the tree. I pulled my diary out of my bag and began to write in it, about random topics that popped into my mind.  
I paused when a pair of blue eyes filled my mind. I closed my diary and stuffed it back into my bag. My eyes felt heavy, and began to close, and soon my world was filled with darkness.

I felt someone tap my shoulder. Another tap. Whoever was tapping my shoulder must have had a big hand. Someone whispered my name. He had a familiar voice.  
"Emily, wake up," The voice whispered again.  
I slowly opened my eyes, and I met two blue ones. I jumped at how close he was, and put a hand over my chest. "Leo, you scared the heck out of me!"  
"Sorry. How come you're here? Aren't you supposed to be in the village with your reservation?" Leo asked, standing up. His hood had fallen off, so I could see his face clearly. He held out a hand.  
I gladly took it, and picked up my backpack in the process. "Yeah, apparently I had to be there at nine in the morning. So I decided to tell you that I am going to see if I can get to a place in another town here in the Amazon."  
"You can stay with me, if you want I mean, but if you don't want to…" Leo trailed off.  
"I can stay for a little," I said. It was dark now, so I must have been asleep for a few hours.  
We walked on the trail leading back to his underground area. "So…" I sighed, breaking the silence.  
"So," he repeated. "People can be weird."  
"What do you mean?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.  
"Well, you were told the reservation was at noon, but then you were told it was a nine," he said.  
"True," I said, and again we were left in silence. I stopped walking.  
"What is i-"  
I shushed him. I heard a rustle, and Leo seemed to hear it too, as he disappeared in the trees. I grabbed my katana and pointed it at the bush. "Who's there?" I asked aloud.  
Then, of all people, the receptionist came out of the bushes, with her hands up.  
"What are you doing out here? It's not safe to be out here at night," I said, lowering my katana.  
"I was looking for you," she said.  
I raised an eyebrow.  
"I know a place in the jungle that you can stay. It's for free and furnished, but it needs a clean up," She said, and glanced at my katana, then back up at me.  
"Show me where it is, and I'll consider not murdering you," I said, and gestured with my katana to walk.  
She began walking, in a silence. I looked up in the trees and saw Leo, concealed in the shadows of his cloak. I smiled up at him, then turned my attention to the woman.  
"Name?" I asked, and she looked at me over her shoulder.  
"Karen," she said, and looked back to where she was going.  
I blew my fringe out of my face and continued walking.

It wasn't long until I saw it. There was a double story house in a clearing with lush green grass. A pool of clear water reflecting the dark blue sky, and a waterfall rushing down into the lake.  
"It's beautiful..." I whispered, then turned to Karen. "Thank you, I don't know how to thank you!"  
She smiled. "You don't need to. It's from me to you," She said. She clapped her hands together. "Well, I'd better get back to the village, before my boss figures out I'm gone."  
"I don't want to hold you up. I guess I'll see you in the village sometime?" I said, more like a question than a statement.  
"Yeah. Good luck cleaning the place," She said, turning back to the forest.  
"Thanks!" I called after her as she disappeared into the forest.  
I turned around and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Leo there. Instinctively, I put a hand over my heart. "Leo! Don't scare me like that!" I yelled, and playfully pushed him to prove my point.  
He smiled. "I'll help you clean your house," He said.  
I crossed my arms. "I don't want to be a burden on you, I mean you've already done so much, I-"  
"No, I am helping you whether you like it or not," He said.  
I pouted, while he raised an eyebrow. I let my arms fall loose to my side. "Fine!" I exclaimed.  
"Yay!" He yelled, and within seconds he was at the front door.  
"He can sure act like a teenager for a 22 year old," I said, and ran over to him.  
He stood on the balcony, and peeking in a window.  
"The door's unlocked you know," I said, and he pulled away from the window.  
"I swear I saw a couch in there," He said, looking at me.  
"Well she did say it was furnished," I said, opening the door.  
Almost directly in front of the doorway was the stairs that led up into darkness. Literally, it was pitch black up there. I grabbed my torch out of my bag, and shone it around a little bit, the only light coming from the doorway. Leo was behind me, scanning the surroundings.  
"See if you can find a light switch," He said, moving into another room, disappearing into the dark.  
I shone the light around, following him into the room. I couldn't see much, which caused me to run into a table. "Ouch!" I exclaimed, and the next thing I know was that Leo was right in front of me.  
"Are you okay?" He asked, a hint of worry in his tone.  
"Yeah, the table decided to pop up out of nowhere and run into my shin," I said.  
I could feel Leo smiling at my childishness. I straightened up and shone the torch around a bit, and _voila_! A light switch was on the other side of the room, at the door way. I smiled, and walked to it, flicking it on. The room lit up, revealing a fire place, a double seater couch in front of it, and a rug in between them. Next to the couch was a small table, most likely the one I ran into. On the other side of the couch was a tall lamp. There was a bookshelf on the wall opposite the window, which curtains were drawn. The walls were a creamy color. A soft cream colored carpet was underneath our feet.  
Although there was all this furniture in the room, it as also very dusty, a few cobwebs in the corners. "I'm going to check out the other rooms," I said, and went back out into the foyer.  
I walked past the stairs, and saw a hallway, also dark. But instead of going down there, I went directly across from the living room. I felt around the wall for a light switch, and flicked it.  
A wooden dining table, with six chairs around it, stood in the center of the room, a black vase with transparent designs in the middle of the table, a light hanging directly over the vase, the designs spilling over the walls, which were also a cream color, like the living room. The floor was made of wood.  
The lights suddenly dimmed, and the room looked magnificent. I turned around and saw Leo, his hands on a dimmer next to the light switch. I smiled. "Looks amazing, doesn't it?" I asked, and his gaze fell over me.  
The sides of his mouth perked up slightly. "Yeah..." He said quietly, his gaze flickering around the room once more.  
I turned around again, my sight immediately falling upon a door. I walked towards the door, and opened it. A small kitchen was in there; a small fridge, oven, microwave, counter, dishwasher, sink, pantry, and cabinets. The walls and floor were tiled.  
"Cozy," was all Leo said.  
I went back into the foyer with Leo. "Up or in there?" I asked.  
Leo glanced at me. "I don't know, dark and creepy hallway, or dark and creepy upstairs. I can't decide," He said.  
I turned to him. "Don't tell me you're scared," I taunted.  
"Scared? Please," he said and disappeared into the darkness.  
I sighed, and shone the torch light on the wall, and immediately saw a light switch. I flicked it, and the lights flickered on. I walked down the hallway, and saw two doors, on either side, directly opposite each other. I went in the one on the left, and saw a laundry, and in the other door was a bathroom.  
I heard a yawn behind me. Knowing it was Leo, I turned around. "So now you're the one who's tired," I teased.  
He dramatically rolled his eyes and sighed.  
"C'mon," I began, "we only have to look upstairs.I'm sure there are a few bedrooms up there we can crash on."  
"Yeah. I'll go find the light switch," he said and went upstairs, taking two steps at a time. I turned back and looked at the now closed door. Leo must have closed it when following me into the dining room. Next to the door were two light switches. I flicked the one on the right and two light on the porch came on. I flicked the other one, and heard a thump the moment the light for the stairs came on.  
I bolted upstairs and looked around. I saw Leo rubbing his face. He looked at me. "The door ran into my face," he said, and glared at the door.  
"Maybe the house is haunted," I said, smiling evilly.  
"Maybe you're right," Leo said, and instead of running into the door he opened it carefully. I followed him inside, and saw a master bedroom. There was a double bed in the center of the room, with black sheets. Immediately I jumped face first on the bed.  
"Mine," I mumbled.  
"Fine by me," He said. The next thing I know, something hard was pressuring my back. Then realization smacked me in the face. Leo was lying on me! "I'll just crash here," He finished.  
I squirmed under him. I moved my head to the side so I could breathe, and I saw that Leo was on his back. "I can't breathe," I wheezed, "why are you so heavy?"  
I could feel Leo smirk, and then he rolled off me. He was in front of my face, a satisfied smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and hauled myself onto my hands and feet. I crawled towards the head of the bed, and sprawled myself across the bed on my back.  
Leo got up. "Night," He said, and headed out of the room.  
"Night," I replied, and he turned, flashing a smile, then disappearing from view. The light from the staircase turned off, leaving me in darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

When I woke up, the air was warm and humid. I looked around the room I was in. It was unfamiliar, causing me to shoot up. I looked around again as I remembered the night before. I smiled, leaning back onto the ever fluffy pillows. I looked out the window to my left, and I could see lots of trees. Getting up, I realized that I was still in my clothes, that haven't been changed in two days.  
Ignoring it, I walked up to the window, opening it. I looked around, and I could see the waterfall on the right, as well as Leo sitting, his back towards me, facing the water.  
I took a quick shower, and changed, wandering downstairs to the kitchen. Unfortunately, there was no food. I went into the living room and grabbed my bag, which I dumped last night when looking around. I surfed around in it, grabbing my wallet and phone. Leaning over a couch, which dust flew up around me, I opened the curtains, looking outside, and Leo was nowhere to be seen. I stood up and saw that there was a mark where I leaned, showing a richer darker. I turned around, walking towards the kitchen.  
I saw Leo looking around in the fridge. "Hey," I said, causing him to jump and hit his head on the roof of the fridge.  
"Ow!" he exclaimed, and he stood up, closing the fridge and turning to face me. I couldn't stop the grin from spreading on my face. I leaned against the doorway.  
"I'm going to go into town to get some food, and something for that wrist of yours," I said, gesturing to his arm. He nodded. "Do you need anything?" I asked.  
"Nah, I'm good," he said, but then thought of something. "Actually, can you see if they have pizza?"  
"Pizza? We'll be lucky if we can find peanut butter there. Besides, pizza for breakfast? Really?" I said, and he shrugged. "Whatever."  
He walked past me, and I followed him outside. I began to walk down the path we came from. Leo walked by my side silently, but I had this strange feeling he was watching me out of the corner of his eye. I tilted my head and looked up at him, and he looked forward, and couldn't hide the smile on his face.  
After a while of walking, we went up to the large tree from yesterday, and Leo stopped. I waved bye to him. He waved back, then ran back into the jungle.  
I walked into the village. It was larger than I remember it being yesterday. I eventually found my way to a shopping centre, and I found frozen pizzas inside. I grabbed a couple, not really sure what Leo wanted, but I had a feeling he would eat any of them. I walked around, grabbing all sorts of different foods, and drinks, and medical supplies, and whatnot.  
"Hello!" A familiar voice said. The inside of me died. Darcy. Of all people to run into in such a small grocery store, it had to be her.  
I turned around, putting on a smile. "Hey. What brings you to this half of the grocery store?" I asked.  
She smiled. "Just walking around, I guess. How's the house?"  
"It's great," I said, and continued walking.  
She fell into step with me. "So, where are you from?"  
"London."  
"What brings you here?"  
"I liked the jungle."  
"How old are you?"  
"21."  
"Who was your friend?"  
I stopped walking. "What friend?"  
"I heard you talking to someone, before you nearly killed me. I didn't get to see him, unfortunately. He sounded hot."  
Right. "Oh, him. I met him in the jungle. He's a great… guy."  
"Oh, okay. I guess you got to be careful about who you meet around here these days."  
"Yeah," I agreed. I walked up to the register and started putting my items onto the belt. The lady started scanning the items.  
"That's a lot of stuff you're getting," Darcy said, and then gasped in excitement. "Are you living with him? That is so cool! You gotta let me meet him!"  
"Yeah, no," I said, and her hopeful face fell. "He's not really a people person," I quickly added.  
She then caught my gaze. "Please let me see him."  
I felt weird. "I can't."  
It felt like she was looking into my soul, almost. Almost.  
"At least tell me his name."  
I thought about it. I guess it wouldn't be that bad, if I told her his name. I mean, it's just a name. "Leo."  
She smiled, but didn't break eye contact. "What does he look like?"  
I began to talk before I could think. "He's sort of tall, he has blue eyes, and-" I stopped myself. I wasn't going to tell her about him. Why was I even telling her about him?  
"And… what?" She asked.  
I looked away from her, and I grabbed the grocery bags. "Look, I've gotta go," I said, and with that I walked out of the building. I walked to the entrance of the forest and kept walking. I didn't stop. I had to get out of there. But a voice stopped me.  
"Woah," Leo said, running up to me. He stopped in front of me and took some of the heavy bags from my arms. I noticed that there were red lines embedded in my skin from them. Leo went to my side and we walked towards the house. "So, what's got you all riled up like this?"  
"Someone was creeping me out in the grocery. It was strange, and she was irritating" I said.  
"Let me guess, the one who showed you the house?" He guessed. I nodded and we continued to walk in silence.  
Back at the house, we dumped the bags in the kitchen, and I started to put things away. I saw Leo smile when I was putting the frozen pizzas in the freezer. When all the food was away, I turned to Leo. "Now," I said, "Let's have a look at that wrist."  
We sat at the dining table, and I unwrapped his wrist. It looked a little swollen, which could mean that it was sprained. "Does it hurt?" I asked.  
"Not really. Only when I use it too much," He said. I moved the wrist in certain ways, and came to the conclusion that it's sprained.  
"Yup, it's sprained," I said, looking up at him. He nodded. I bandaged his arm again, and I met his gaze. "You should try to keep it above your heart. And you also need to rest it. If you want, put ice on it and or take these," I said, putting anti-inflammatory painkillers on the table.  
"Are you a doctor or something?" Leo asked, and I smiled.  
"I studied to become a vet, remember?"  
"Right. I can only see the irony in that."  
I smiled evilly. "You won't be able to help much now."  
He groaned and pouted. "I can still help a little, right?  
"Maybe," I said, getting up. I put all the medical supplies into a cabinet.  
I grabbed my new toilet brush and wandered into the living room, Leo following curiously. I climbed up on a couch, again, dust flying up, and reached the brush into a cobweb, collecting in the spires. After I was satisfied, I went to the corner where the bookcase wall were, jumping up, trying to reach the cobweb there. I managed to get the bottom of it, but couldn't reach the top.  
Upon hearing a snicker behind me, I turned around and glared at Leo. Smiling, he walked over and took the toilet brush with his good hand, reaching up and easily taking up the rest of the cobweb with the brush. He moved to other cobwebs in which I couldn't reach.  
I went into the hallway and found a cupboard under the stairs. I found a vacuum cleaner, and I heaved it out of the cupboard and into the living room. I plugged it in and pressed the on button, and nothing happened. I frowned, but then it sprang to life. I grinned and brought it up to the couch, sucking the dust out of it. I then took off the head in order to do the crevasses. I went to do the other two couches, and then I continued with the carpet and the rugs. By that time, Leo had collected all the cobwebs and cleaned the brush.  
I put the vacuum cleaner back in the cupboard and went into the kitchen to grab a wet cloth. I went back into the living room and saw Leo wiping down the end table beside the couch, and I went over the bookshelf. I sat on the floor and started taking out the books on the bottom shelf, wiping the dust off the spines and piling them up. All of the books, I noticed, were hard cover, and I think they were collector's editions. Once all the books of the bottom shelf of the first section, I wiped down the shelf, and then put the books back. I did this as far up as I could go, then Leo did the last two shelves, which I couldn't reach, with only one hand. While he did that, I went onto the second bookshelf; the middle one, starting from the bottom yet again. Once I got to the middle shelf, while I was taking out the books and piling them, a book didn't come out. It acted like a lever.  
The centre bookshelf went back into the wall, and then went off to the right, leaving a dark passage. I looked at Leo, who appeared by my side. I shrugged, and went in. It became dark quickly, and I slid my hand across the stone walls. I could feel that the floor was stone, which descended into stairs. I could feel Leo's presence behind me, and I could no longer see a thing. I wondered if we would be locked down here.  
I hesitantly held my hand out in front of me and just in time too. I felt a hard surface, too cold and smooth to be more stone. I felt around, and my hand enclosed around a cold metallic handle.  
 _A door_ , I thought, _of course_. I pushed the handle down, and it didn't make a single sound. I pushed the door open, and I couldn't see into the next room. I walked inside, again running my hand along the now metallic wall. My hand came across a switch. I flicked it, and was almost blinded by the light that came on.  
Once my eyes adjusted, I saw that the room was quite large, and empty. There were about ten cots that looked uncomfortable and scratchy, lined along the sides. At the back of the room were three doors. I noticed that there didn't seem to be a speck of dust. I walked over to the one on the far left, Leo walking over to the far right. I opened it and saw a bathroom, conjoining with a laundry. Walking out, I met back with Leo.  
"In there's a bathroom and laundry," I said, throwing my thumb over my shoulder.  
Leo mimicked my position, pointing to the door on the right. "Empty kitchen," he said.  
We both then turned to the door in the centre of the wall. I reached for the handle and pushed the door open. Inside was a room full of all sorts of computers and whatnot. Walking out of the room I turned to Leo. "Well, that was kinda disappointing," I said, "I was almost expecting a whole tunnel to behind the waterfall."  
Leo looked around, and then looked at the centre door again. "Did you notice the door behind the cabinet in there?"  
"There was a cabinet in there?"  
Leo opened the door and we walked in. He walked over to a cabinet and pointed out a small handle.  
"You didn't mention this before… why?" I asked, and walked over to help him push the cabinet out of the way. The cabinet was very heavy, and it was exhausting just moving the cabinet. I noticed that Leo was being careful with his wrist.  
We studied the door after getting the cabinet out of the way. The door was painted the same plain colour as the surrounding walls. I reached over to the handle and turned it, but it didn't budge. Leo tried as well, but failed.  
Reaching out again, I muttered, "Why won't you open," and the handle gave way, opening the door. "Ha!" I yelled in accomplishment. We peered inside and saw that the walls, floor and ceiling were made of stone. I retreated and looked around the room, looking in drawers and cabinets.  
"What are you looking for?" I heard Leo ask.  
"Torch," I said, and shot up as an idea hit me. I walked over to the cabinet we pushed and opened it, and sitting on the middle shelf was a torch. I grabbed it and turned to Leo, closing the cabinet. I turned it on, and honestly I was surprised that it turned on. I walked in the tunnel, and Leo followed me.  
"How did you know that the torch was in there?" He asked.  
"Random guess," I said, and ignored the suspicious look he gave me. We walked on, and there was a sharp turn that seemed to be a large U-turn. Then there was a long straight tunnel that had a slow ascent. Suddenly it took an abrupt rise. I shone the torch ahead, and it disappeared into the darkness.  
"Wait," Leo said, taking the torch from me.  
"Hey," I started to protest when he turned it off.  
"Look," He said. I looked up the tunnel, and saw a faint light up ahead.  
"Huh," I said, and stole my torch back. I turned it on and began walking up the steep tunnel. I must say, _it sucked_. I was tired after moving the cabinet, but after this? I looked at Leo, and it seemed as if he could run a marathon or three. Eventually we made it to the top.  
And believe it or not, we were behind the waterfall. I turned off the torch, and I could see the house distorted through the water. I sat down and leaned against the wall, in which both were wet. Leo sat down in front of me.  
"You look tired," he said, and looked out towards the waterfall.  
"More like exhausted," I said, "I should probably get into training again," I muttered to myself.  
"Training?" Leo asked, giving me a confused look.  
"Yeah, when I travelled, I spent a lot of my time in Japan, so I took up martial arts. But not only in Japan, had I also taken up all sorts of martial arts. But then I kinda dropped it for a while, when I was trying to get into the Amazon. Takes a lot of hard work, I guess. But I also relaxed, and enjoyed myself. I don't think I've trained for at least six months." I explained.  
Leo nodded, and looked back towards the waterfall. "Should we head back?" He asked.  
"Yeah, I guess," I said, and we got up, walking back down the slope. It felt like it took half of the time it took to get up there, probably because it was mostly downhill. We closed the door and I put the torch back where I found it. Walking out of the bunker, closing the doors behind us, we began walking up the dark steps.  
"I must say," I began, "That was awesome." As I finished my sentence, lights came on, and I could see the cobblestone stairs, and I stopped abruptly. "What?" I said out of confusion.  
"It must react to sound," Leo states.  
"I guess we were quiet when we came down here," I said, and walked up the rest of the stairs. The bookcase was still open. I walked into the house, Leo close behind, and the bookcase closed behind us. I turned to Leo. "You hungry?"  
"Not really," he said, looking at the books piled on the floor. I grinned.  
"Well, I was going to heat up some of those frozen pizzas..."  
"Yeah, why not," Leo said. I saw his cheeks go slightly pink.  
"How many do you want?"  
"Two."  
"Two… slices or two whole pizzas?"  
"Whole pizzas…"  
My gaze met his. There was an awkward silence, and I felt my cheeks begin to heat up.  
I cleared my throat, looking away. "Okay then," I said, and went into the kitchen quickly. I got out three frozen pizzas and threw them in the oven.

All of downstairs was all clean, and dust free. Leo was out somewhere, training or something, so I decided to check out what else was upstairs. I found five other bedrooms, along with a bathroom and a study of some sorts. The bedroom I slept in last night was a master bedroom. The bedroom next to that had two beds on opposite walls. Then there was a large bathroom, then the study. In-between the bathroom and the study was another bedroom, one with a single bed in the centre of the room. On the other side of the study was a bedroom with three single beds, on either side of the room and in the very centre. The last bedroom was another double bed, however smaller than my bed. The rooms were dusty, and I knew I would be working up here tomorrow.  
I went downstairs and went outside on the patio, leaning on the fence. The sun was setting, and the clearing almost glowed. The water was clear and beautiful. Leo leaned on the fence next to me, looking out with me. I glanced at him briefly, wondering if he would leave. Honestly, I didn't want him to leave.  
"Hey," I said, getting his attention, "perhaps I could train with you to get back into it."  
"Yeah, I guess. That's fine with me," he replied, and I couldn't help the grin spreading across my plate.  
"Awesome," I said, and then remembered my plan for tomorrow. "However, I was going to clean upstairs tomorrow."  
"That's okay. We don't have to start straight away," he said, turning to me. "One step at a time, I guess. And at the moment our first step is the house, and making it seem like home."  
"You're welcome to stay as long as you want," I offered quickly.  
It looked as if he was going to reject it, but then seemed to think against it. "Thanks," he said, with a smile, "that would be great."


End file.
